It’s a recurring story. If you put out the very best product you possibly can, meaning professionally edited with a pro cover, you did a good job.

Ralph L. Angelo JR. – 27 April 2014

The Back Flap

In the year 2089 man’s first faster than light space flight is about to begin, but where it ends will be filled with action, adventure and the unknown!
The Cagliostro is an experimental space craft which is destined to begin mans first faster than light voyage beyond his solar system and into a greater universe filled with dangerous adversaries, intrigue and a deadly conspiracy set to tear humanity apart!

Join Mark Johnson and his crew of adventurers as they travel beyond our wildest dreams and into a universe fraught with mystery and danger!

About the book

What is the book about?

The Cagliostro Chronicles is about mankind’s first faster than light spaceflight and the hidden dangers that await in the depths of space, including a hundred plus year old conspiracy against Earth and humanity in general.

When did you start writing the book?

I began writing The Cagliostro Chronicles in April 2013

How long did it take you to write it?

Three months

Where did you get the idea from?

I had it floating around my head for years.

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

Some chapters in the middle of the book might have been a little tough to get through when I was telling the actual story of what our heroes were going through. There was one scene in particular where the main crew of the Cagliostro had been captured and were being beaten and tortured. That was a little rough to write I believe.

What came easily?

The plot, the characterizations, the cast and what I wanted to do with them as well as the story I wanted to tell

Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?

No, entirely fictitious

We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?

Ohhh good question!  Robert E. Howard, Lester Dent, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Warren Murphy. The usual giants.

Do you have a target reader?

Not really, though I make it a point NOT to write sexually explicit stuff, so teens could enjoy my writing as much as adults.

About Writing

Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?  

My writing process is to try to write 2000 words per day, and I usually write at night. My target book length is usually between 65 and 95,000 words.

Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?

I do a very basic outline, which is just a rough plot. I find if I fill in the blanks too  heavily it becomes boring for me to write. I like discovering the adventure as much as the reader would.

Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?

I proofread each novel once. I stop along the way and repair typos I see.

Did you hire a professional editor?

I hire a pro editor to go over my books. I don’t have the editing gene. I find it’s far more worthwhile to have an editor find my mistakes and turn my raw piece of coal into a diamond.

Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?

No, I find music is too distracting when I write.

About Publishing

Did you submit your work to Agents?

No, I have a few New Pulp publishers I publish through but the bulk of my publishing is done through my own publishing label, Cosmic Comet Publishing

What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?

Two years ago I was having my first book published through a company called Publish America that I had used eight years earlier for a non-fiction motorcycle instructional book I had written. They were actually quite good back then, even though the finished product was slightly overpriced at the time. When I used them again with my first novel, Redemption of the Sorcerer, the Crystalon Saga, Book One it was a total disaster. They didn’t edit the book at all. They just threw the rough draft out there and published it. So I bought the rights back and looked into self-publishing. I was very pleased with the results.

Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?

Professionally done. I believe in putting out the very best book I can, in looks as well as content and editing. The cover is the very first thing a perspective reader sees. It will influence their buying before anything else.

Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?

I market through many small book sites that charge between free and $100. I also visit fifty different FB groups a few times a week with info on my books and where they can be bought.

Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?

I’m not a master of this, I’m still learning, but I can say write what you enjoy, and most importantly just keep writing. Don’t stop, don’t give up. Write until you are finished whether it’s five hundred words a night or three thousand. Just keep writing. Don’t let naysayers or bad reviews dissuade you. There are several sites out there that are supposed to be writer’s resources like ‘Goodreads’, but chances are if you’re going to get a bad review from what I call the ‘Holier than thou’ reviewer type it’s at Goodreads. I find a lot of pompous know it all’s on that site who seem to just go out of their way to skewer new writers. It’s a recurring story. If you put out the very best product you possibly can, meaning professionally edited with a pro cover, you did a good job.

About You

Where did you grow up?

Long Island, NY

Where do you live now?

Long Island, NY

What would you like readers to know about you?

I just won ‘Best New Writer’ in the 2014 New Pulp Awards!

What are you working on now?

Right now I have two books being edited. One is the sequel to Redemption of the Sorcerer, and that is called My Enemy, Myself, The Crystalon Saga, Book Two. That is slated to be my next release. The next book out after that one which will be approximately a month later will the sequel to the Cagliostro Chronicles, which I called The Cagliostro Chronicles 2: Conflagration. Right now I am currently writing a prose Superhero novel entitled Hyperforce. That should be completed in the next few weeks. When that is done I’ll go back and write another Cagliostro Chronicle as that has by far been the most successful of my books. Information on all my books and what I have upcoming can be found on my website.

End of Interview:

Get your copy of The Caliostro Chronicles from Amazon US (paper or ebook), Amazon UK (paper or ebook), Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords.